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Elon Musk praised the “very reasonable” co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany party when she joined the tech billionaire for a discussion about Adolf Hitler, Donald Trump and the existence of aliens.
In the latest attempt by the world's richest man to influence European politics, Musk hosted Alice Weidel for a chat on his social media platform X and “strongly recommended” that Germans support the AfD in the February 23 federal election.
“I think Alice Weidel is a very sensible person and I hope people can tell that just from this conversation,” he said. . . Nothing outrageous was suggested, just common sense.“
At its peak, about 200,000 people tuned in to Musk's 75-minute live broadcast on Channel X with Weidel, which was falsely described as a “conversation with the leading candidate to run Germany.”
The Alternative for Germany party, large parts of which have been classified by Germany's domestic intelligence agency as far-right, is getting about 19 percent of the vote and is on track to finish second in the election in Europe's largest country – a result that would be better. Her performance in the national vote.
However, respectable opinion polls put Friedrich Merz and his center-right Christian Democrats in the lead, with about 31 percent.
Weidel, a candidate for the Alternative for Germany party, repeatedly thanked Musk for the opportunity to speak without being “interrupted or framed negatively” — a situation she said was “completely new.”
She has strived to portray her party, which has called for mass deportations of people with migrant backgrounds, as “liberal conservative.”
Musk, who has been criticized by European leaders for his interference in German politics as well as in the United Kingdom, called on Weidel to refute comparisons between her party and the Nazis.
This led to a discussion in which both host and guest argued that Hitler was not a right-winger but a socialist.
This claim, which is very popular among far-right groups, is rejected by historians who say that the German fascist movement that oversaw the murder of six million Jews – as well as large numbers of Roma, the disabled, gays and communists – had little to do with socialism despite describing itself as National Socialist German Workers' Party.
One of the most prominent politicians in the Alternative for Germany party was the controversial Bjorn Höcke Convicted and fined For the use of prohibited Nazi slogans.
Musk's support for the far-right party represents an unusual interference in the German election campaign by a key confidant of US President-elect Trump.
The matter has deeply concerned Germany's main parties and sparked renewed debate in Brussels over whether X and its owner are violating EU digital rules by interfering in politics and amplifying accounts that spread misinformation and extremist views.
The platform had about 4 million monthly active users in Germany in December, according to data from Similar sitea digital market intelligence company.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz – whom Musk described as an “incompetent idiot” – responded to the Tesla CEO's interventions by stressing the need to “stay calm” and not “feed the trolls”.
But Merz described the recent article written by Musk, in which he explained his support for the far right, as “an unprecedented case of interference in the election campaign of a friendly country.”
The conversation between Musk and Weidel gradually shifted from a discussion of key AfD topics, including immigration, taxes and the virtues of nuclear power, to a plea from the politician to the serial entrepreneur to explain his views on the conflict in the Middle East and Mars. , and the earth. The existence of aliens and whether he believes in God or not.
Weidel also said she felt “physical pain” because of the way German media and politicians treated Trump during the US presidential election campaign, and expressed hope that he would end the conflict in Ukraine.
She also praised Musk for his “beautiful words” and “vision.”
Additional reporting by Clara Murray and Javier Espinosa
